


brittle grins

by VeteranKlaus



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Drinking, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Season 2, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25635406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeteranKlaus/pseuds/VeteranKlaus
Summary: Klaus shows up on Allison's doorstep with a split lip and a bottle of booze.
Comments: 78
Kudos: 493





	brittle grins

**Author's Note:**

> Said in the summary, but I'll say it again:  
> SPOILERS FOR SEASON TWO EP.4.

Klaus shows up on her doorstep with a split lip and a bottle of booze.

Allison doesn’t exactly know what Klaus has been up to - doesn’t even know when he landed here - besides the obvious with his cult, and so she isn’t entirely surprised to see him drunk - has no reason not to be surprised - but his whole posture and attitude tells her that this time is different. 

Klaus is hardly managing to stay on his feet, and his words are so slurred he’s barely coherent, not aided by the fact he seems intent on trying to fumble his way through different languages, and Allison just knows that this is something more. She isn’t sure how sober he’s been, but the whole situation just screams ‘relapse’ at her. There’s a curl of old disappointment in her gut, the same thing she felt whenever he was high at the dinner table in the Academy, or when he would help himself to the cash in her purse whenever she let him crash at hers before she moved, when he would refuse all the help she offered; it’s disheartening to think that Klaus hasn’t gotten better.

But, the past is the past, and Klaus is her brother, and even if she couldn’t tell by the look on his face that this was something more than just Klaus being drunk again, she can’t turn him away and the disappointment quickly gives way to concern.

She steps back, letting Klaus stumble in. “The couch is all yours,” she says, and he immediately gravitates towards it, seeming to be in a battle against gravity as his body tilts downwards. He reaches the couch just in time to fall onto it. At least there is so little in the bottle of cheap liquor that he’s holding that it doesn’t threaten to splash. 

She stares at him, face-down on her couch, hair splayed everywhere and shoulders hunched, legs curled up to fit on the furniture. He seems to already be asleep despite only having been on the couch for perhaps five seconds.

For a long moment, Allison just stares at him. And then she moves into action; she slips his shoes off for him, setting them down on the floor, and finds the blanket folded up on an armchair so that she can throw it over him, tucking it against his shoulders. He smells of booze this close up (and from a distance) and with the blur of his sudden drunk reappearance, she hadn’t fully noticed the dried blood on his face from a split lip. She frowns, reaching out with gentle fingers to brush the hair from his face, tucking it behind his ear. Besides the split lip, he doesn’t seem to be hurt any more, and she can’t help but wonder what happened.

It’s late, though, and she knows she’s definitely not going to get an answer from him just now, so she pats his shoulder and stands up, ready to go get some sleep. Just before she can, however, thin fingers catch her wrist in a weak grip, and Klaus’ eyes are open to slits.

“Ah… I really tried…” He breathes, eyes slipping shut once more. “‘Did… jus’ wanted him… to be ‘kay.”

“Who?” Asks Allison, frowning, although she doesn’t really expect an answer. Klaus’ eyes flutter and his fingers run along her wrist absentmindedly.

“ _Daaaaave_.” Klaus drawls the name out, and he rocks onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Allison makes a mental note to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep on his back - she doesn’t know how much alcohol he’s had to drink, but she’s pretty confident he’s passed the line of ‘too much.’

“Dave?” She repeats, not following, and Klaus sighs, lips parting. 

“Dave,” he whispers as if the name is something precious. He blinks rapidly, eyes glistening, and turns his head slightly to look at her. “‘S it - ‘s it bad, I just - wanted to see him ‘gain? ‘N’ then I just…” He trails off and doesn’t pick up the sentence again, pressing his lips together and frowning heavily up at the ceiling. 

“I don’t know who Dave is, Klaus,” Allison murmurs gently. “You should sleep, okay? And-”

“I love him,” Klaus whispers, and his chest bounces with a harsh breath. His split lip trembles dangerously. “And I thought that - thought I could… save ‘im, maybe, and I… I know he’ll be upset, he never liked hurtin’ people…”

“Klaus?” She murmurs gently, and she crouches down to get closer as his voice gets quieter, talking more to himself than to her. It works, though; he turns his head to face her, holding her gaze. 

“I’m not mad at him,” he mumbles, running his fingers over his bottom lip - the split one, she thinks with a frown. “Dunno what I expected.” He sighs, heavy and disappointed, and his fingers twitch on her wrist. “Was it - was it selfish?” He asks her, and his eyes soften and melt, something terribly sad residing in them. “Just wanted to - see him, again. Hear him. Just - just once.”

Allison doesn’t have much time to try and process what he is saying and also come up with a response to it, because he moves on without actually expecting a response from her, except for this one time. She doesn’t know who Dave is, or who he is to Klaus, but Klaus looks horrifically sad, eyes teary and breaths trembling.

“No,” she tells him, and he exhales in relief, eyes slipping closed. 

“Thought I could save him,” Klaus admits in a whisper, and his hand slips off her wrist. 

“Maybe you still can,” she offers gently, a little unsure whether that’s the right thing to say or not, but it makes Klaus’ lips twitch up in a sad smile. The hand that had been on her wrist crawls up to the chain around his neck, clasping around what looks like dog tags there.

“I want to,” he murmurs. “So badly. I just want him safe.”

When his hair falls across his face, Allison reaches out with gentle fingers to tuck it behind his ear. He’s sinking into the couch already, body relaxing a little. 

“Jus’... though’ I could do somethin’… good, for him… for once. He was too good - too good, for me.” He exhales slowly, shakily, and curls up on the couch. 

“Klaus?” She murmurs gently, but Klaus doesn’t reply. She repeats his name once more just to be sure, but he is fast asleep. She lingers there for a moment, hand on his shoulder, frown on her face. 

She stands, then, and fixes the blanket around him from where it had fallen down due to him moving; makes sure it is tucked close to him, that the frayed ends are folded and aren’t irritating. He isn’t going to wake up overnight, she knows - or, he probably won’t - but nonetheless she leaves the nearest lamp on for him before she goes to bed.

He doesn’t mention Dave again to her, and she doesn’t dare bring him up again. Klaus’ hands close around the dog tags, open, close, a flashing _GOODBYE,_ and no one else seems to notice he does this so often. She wonders if he did it before. When he sees her looking, however, the shadows in his eyes are quickly hidden away with a grin, and he wiggles his _HELLO_ fingers at her. She wonders if he notices that he always holds the dog tags with that _GOODBYE._

**Author's Note:**

> So, season two was a Ride, how are we all doing?


End file.
